This Time the Hero Dies
by thespeedforce4
Summary: "The rest of the League was unsure about how you would react to this; but I believe you have a right to see this. He was your teammate after all." (Reviews and Constructive Criticism appreciated) {{Previously Titled: Is Anybody Out There}}
1. Chapter 1: Is Anybody Out There?

**[Season One]**

"_italics in quotes are coming from the video"_

* * *

**Mount Justice  
June 27****th****, 2012  
11:43 AM EDT**

The Dark Knight slowly dimmed the lights in the briefing room. "We received this video five days ago through one of our spies currently infiltrating the Light." Batman slowly let his eyes graze the team, meeting each of theirs individually before finally ending with his protégé, Robin. "The rest of the League was unsure about how you would react to this; but I believe you have a right to see this. He was your teammate."

Batman typed something into a keyboard and a video popped up. The feed was fuzzy, but the team recognized the boy immediately. He was in what appeared to be a jungle. The sun was setting and the forest trees left long, eerie shadows on the ground at which he stood. The suit he wore was tattered and stained red. He forced a wide, bloody grin at the camera.

M'gann gasped, tears rolled silently down her cheeks. Conner immediately wrapped his arms around the Martian protectively. Robin and Kaldur glanced nervously at Artemis, but her face remained stone cold as she glared at Wally's face that was now illuminating on the large screen.

"_Is anybody out there?"_

* * *

**This whole idea popped into my head, but I'm not sure if it is worth continuing...  
So I just wrote this super short story to see if anyone would take the bait...**

**What do you think? Are you "hooked"? (Fishing joke)**

**Like it, Love it, Hate it?**  
**Let me know!**  
**Review :)**

**-Natalie**  
**is Batman**

**Let's get us a third season of Young Justice!  
****Go to smgo .tv for more info**


	2. Chapter 2: From This Day On

**From this Day On**

'_Thoughts'_

* * *

**Central City  
June 6****th****, 2011  
2:59:01 PM **

Wally's fingers drummed on his desk impatiently. He leaned forward in his chair, eyes never leaving the clock. He completely disregarded everything his teacher was saying as he mentally counted down his last 59 seconds of his sophomore year. To his classmates, it was only one minute of torture they had to endure, but to the speedster, it was a life time. Ten seconds.

His class was beginning to get rowdy. Many of them began stuffing their school supplies into their bags. After a long day of finals, all anyone wanted to do was get the heck out of there.

Nine.

Wally's AP biology teacher fought for control of his students, but to no avail. The teenagers continued stuffing their backpacks, something Wally had already done.

Eight.

Wally's foot tapped rhythmically on the floor, getting faster and faster until his foot was vibrating on the floor. Once he tapped his foot two hundred times, yes he counted, he switched feet.

Seven.

Impatiently, Wallace grabbed out his phone and typed a short message into the device.

**Wally: sos**

Shoving it in his pocket he returned to drumming his fingertips against his desk.

Six.

Wally could've sworn this clock was ticking excruciatingly slower than usual. He made a mental note to tell the custodial staff to take a look at it.

In a lame attempt to distract himself, he began to sing the quadratic formula in his head.

Five.

'x' equals negative 'b' plus or minus the square root of 'b' squared minus 4'ac' all over 2'a'.

Four.

Wally's phone buzzed and he whipped it out, thankful for the distraction, although it wasn't exactly what he wanted to hear.

**Artemis: don't be a baby.**

**Wally: thanks, appericate it babe.**

Three.

He counted to milliseconds, throwing his head back, he groaned. All he wanted to do was get to Mount Justice as soon as possible. Artemis and Dick were already there, as well as the remainder of the team. They would all be waiting on him. Why was he always the late one?

Two.

**Artemis: you spelled "appreciate" wrong.**

One.

Wally never thought he could love the sound of a bell ringing as much as he did right then.

It took all of his willpower not to sprint out of the prison, err school, at his top speed. Instead, he hurriedly followed his classmates out the doors. He kept his head down, trying not to gain attention from his school friends. Wally made it out of the doors and into the courtyard without incident. '_I'm free!'_

"Wally!"

'_Never mind.' _Wally turned around, a smile plastered on his face. "Hey guys!" Colin, Dane, Alex and Linda approached the red-head.

"Wallace Rudolph West," Linda chided, "you weren't going to leave without saying goodbye now, were you?"

Colin slapped Wally on the back, "lighten up, West! From this day on, we're _juniors_!" He motioned to his car in the parking lot, "we're all going to Rudy's. Come with us, man! I've got room for one more," he nudged the speedster and grinned.

Rudy's was an ice cream shop in town. Every year, on the last day of school, kids gathered there to start the summer. "That's really tempting, Colin," and it was. Wally would have loved to hang out with his school friends and be normal for a day, but the Bat wouldn't have it. He was going to give them a mission, the first of the summer. "But I can't tonight. I've got my… er…" You'd think Wally would be able to come up with legitimate excuses as fast as he could run, "my grandfather's, son's, brother's, nephew's birthday party…" Wally mentally face palmed.

But, as luck would have it, his friend's bought it. "Well, we'll see ya West."

"Yea.. see ya." Wally watched his friends retreating forms before turning on his heel and racing off of the school campus, taking the fastest route to the nearest zeta tube.

* * *

**Mount Justice  
June 6****th****, 2011  
3:14:45 PM EDT**

"Kid Flash B03"

Wally scrambled into the briefing room a wide grin on his face, "am I late?"

"Fastest boy alive and you _still _show up late to everything," Artemis said to Dick who let out a cackle at her joke. The whole team was there, all suited up, but Wally. First he was late and now he was unprepared. Oops.

In a moment, Wally was at her side, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, "you can't get enough of it, beautiful." Artemis snorted at this, but before she could reply, Batman entered the room.

"There has been a disturbance in the Amazon Rain Forest." The Dark Knight began, typing a few words into a keyboard. The screen projected an image of the rain forest in question and a few photos of people, all labeled missing. "Civilians have been going missing and the animal sightings are becoming less and less. It is rumored that this is where the new Kobra Venom factories are located." Batman scanned the room, "this is a simple recon mission. Get in, get the information and get out."

The team nodded simultaneously.

With that, the Bat left the team. Kaldur turned to M'gann, "have you prepped the bio ship."

"I'm ready when you are."

Kaldur nodded, "then we shall go." He turned towards the loading bay, the team following him.

"Uhm, guys?" The team turned around to a red faced Wally. "Can I have five minutes to change?"

Artemis raised an eyebrow, "five minutes? Can't you move at the speed of sound?"

Wally's blush deepened, "I left my suit at home." The speedster disappeared through the zeta tube, his 'thanks' cut off as his body evaporated.

Robin turned to Artemis, "of all the guys in the world, you _choose_ him?" The archer glared at the younger boy, who only let out his signature cackle in response.

* * *

**Did any of you guys notice the "appreciate" spelling mistake before Artemis pointed it out? Be honest now :)**

**That whole conversation with Wally's friends in the beginning was originally going to be important later, but I decided to drop the idea and forgot to delete it from the chapter.. oops. *shrug*  
I got lazy, sue me.**

**Also, the ending was really rushed. I've got finals coming up, so I didn't have as much time as I would have liked to work on this. Sorry xp I promise you'll see how Wally dies eventually. Ohp… did I say that out loud?**

**Heh heh, Wally doesn't die… or does he?**

**Like it, Love it, Hate it?  
Let me know!  
Review xp**

**-Natalie  
is Batman**

**BTW: I _loved_ all of your fish jokes! I used a few in math today :)**


	3. Chapter 3: I'm in Trouble

**I'm in Trouble**

"_italics in quotes are coming from the video"_

* * *

**Mount Justice  
June 27****th****, 2011  
11:46 AM EDT**

Artemis glared at the holographic screen before her in disbelief. So many emotions and thoughts whirled around her head; she wasn't sure how to feel. Her eyes narrowed at the speedster shown before her.

His costume was torn and stained with blood. His left eye was darkened and his jaw line was bruising on the right side, yet he was still grinning. That stupid lopsided grin was ever present on his freckled features. It looked just like it always did, except his smile didn't quite reach his eyes and it was filled with blood.

Even when things looked their worst, Wally still seemed to be able to make a joke out of it. A faint smile danced across the archer's lips before disappearing into a frown. She was now aware that her whole team was watching her intensely as she watched Wally. He rubbed the back of his neck, something he only did when he was nervous or unsure of himself. Only then did Artemis understand the severity of his situation. Only then did it click that this was Wally. Her Wally. Her Wally, who had been missing for three weeks. Her Wally, who she loved to hate, but loved anyways.

Her eyes widened and she felt her heart clench within her chest. Wally looked at the camera, his grin now a small, unsure smile that was so _not_ Wally. The screen went went to static for a moment before focusing out again.

"_I'm in trouble."_

* * *

**Just so you guys know, I love reading all of your reviews :) They make me feel so warm and bubbly inside. And it makes me feel bad when I write stuff like these in twenty minutes flat.**

**Like it, Love it, Hate it?  
Let me know in a review!**

**-Natalie  
is Batman**

**P.S. Help save Young Justice and get us a third season at smgo .tv**


	4. Chapter 4: All Aboard

**All Aboard**

_'words in italics are telepathic'_

* * *

**Amazon Rain Forest  
June 6****th****, 2011  
8:39:16 PM  
**

Miss Martian flew through the air and landed in a heap on the mossy ground. Superboy immediately rushed to her side. The Martian wasn't seriously hurt, just a few bruises here and there, as well as all of the other members of the team. Although none were seriously injured, they were all exhausted, both physically and mentally.

Kid Flash zig-zagged through the tall trees, Artemis in his arms, bridal style. She shot arrows left and right at their pursuers.

Kaldur's voice rang through their minds. _'M'gann, call the Bio Ship.'_

'_She'll be here soon,'_ the Martian answered with a strained voice.

Kaldur and Robin stood back to back, facing a group of large, Kobra venom enhanced jaguars. _'I'm down to my last batarang. How soon is _soon_?'_ One of the cats pounced at the Boy Wonder as he let his last batarang fly. _'Make that, no batarangs__.'_

As another jaguar prepared to pounce, Kid Flash and Artemis burst through the brush. Wally set Artemis down, who didn't hesitate to take a shot at the jaguar advancing on Kaldur, and managed to trip the wild cat that had its sights set on Robin. '_Feelin' the aster yet?' _the speedster questioned; a lop-sided grin on his face.

Above them, the Bio Ship came into view_, 'All aboard,'_ Conner dead-panned.

'_I think Supey just made a joke,'_ Wally commented, earning a cackle from his best friend. The rest of the Team raced onto the Bio-Ship, too tired to acknowledge the two boy's jokes.

* * *

**Gulf of Mexico – Bio-Ship  
June 6****th****, 2011  
9:03:06 PM**

"This was a simple recon mission. Get in and get out without being detected," Kaldur spoke evenly, but firmly.

'_You sound just like Batman,'_ Wally grumbled in his head.

"We all heard that," Artemis said, causing the speedster to turn red.

Kaldur folded his arms, "if I sounded more like Batman, would you listen to me?" The ship went quiet, "you elected me as leader of this team, and as leader I expect to be listened to and treated as such. This mission was a _failure_. I am disappointed in our performance not only as individuals, but as a team. I am certain Batman will feel just as I do." Kaldur spoke harshly, but still managed to keep his composure. "We must work together if we wish to accomplish anything. Until we can work as a _team_, _all_ of our missions will be **failures**."

No one spoke for the rest of the flight back to Mount Justice.

* * *

**Sorry for the boring set-up chapter, but things are starting to get into gear. We just gotta get through the boring stuff first :\**

**Like it, Love it, Hate it?  
Review please :)**

**-Nat**


	5. Chapter 5: Stay Whelmed, Wall-Man

**Stay Whelmed, Wall-Man**

* * *

**Mount Justice  
June 6****th****, 2011  
10:46:57 EDT**

To say that Batman was pissed would be an understatement. The Dark Knight of Gotham City was scary enough as it is, but get him mad enough and he is downright terrifying. The whole team, Robin included, shrunk under his "Bat Glare". He didn't yell at them, in fact he didn't say a word, but the silence was deafening.

He stood in the middle of the debriefing room. Legs shoulder width apart, arms crossed, eyes narrowed. Black Canary stood beside him, looking just as intimidating.

_We're dead._

_Stay whelmed, Wall-man._

_Stay _whelmed_? We're dead, dude! _SO _dead._

While KF and Robin bickered, the other members of their team remained quiet, although Artemis kept shooting the two death glares.

Without a word, the caped crusader turned and left the room, disappearing into the shadows, leaving Black Canary. She shifted her weight to rest on her left leg. Wordlessly, she too turned around, but not before flicking her wrist to signal them to follow.

The Team complied.

* * *

**Mount Justice – Training Room  
June 6****th****, 2011  
10:47:46**

Black Canary led the Team into the large and newly refurbished training room. Walking to the track, she stopped, allowing the team to catch up.

"Run."

Kid Flash scoffed, and ignoring warning glares from the Team, he turned to Canary and in a flirtatious voice said, "You want _me_ to run? If that's what you want, ba-"

"Save it, Kid Flash. You're not going to have to run. In fact, you can just sit right over there while your Team runs. Five miles. That's 20 times around the track. Go."

This time it was Artemis to speak up. Crossing her arms, she sneered venomously, "you're kidding, right? _Wally_ was the one who screwed this mission up in the first place! It's _his_ fault! If it wasn't for the _Wall-man_ over here—"

"Oh, so now it's all _my_ fault?" Wally turned to face a pissed off Artemis. She was almost as intimidating as Batman, maybe even scarier… but Wally would never admit that.

"In fact, it IS."

"That is ENOUGH you two," Canary practically screamed. "This is what we are talking about! None of you working as a team. Throwing each other under the bus, blaming one another, nearly getting each other _killed_." Dinah closed her eyes and sighed, running a hand through her blonde hair. "You know what?" she opened her eyes again and shrugged, "do whatever you want." With that, she turned around and left.

The team stood there, stunned. Once Black Canary disappeared from the training room, Wally broke the silence.

"Did that just happen?"

No one answered the speedster. Artemis turned to the track and started running laps. Slowly the rest of the team followed suit. Even Wally followed, staying at a slow enough pace that he was only a couple strides ahead of the others.

* * *

**Sorry for the boring chapter. I just wanted to outline the dysfunction of the team right now and the lack of unity.**

**I hope that's what y'all got out of this chapter **** (I'll see if I can finish up the next chapter and maybe upload it today or tomorrow, it all depends on you guys)**

**Check out my Batfamily Drabble: What Defines a Hero and my Traught (if you squint) one-shot: You're Not Special**

**Like it, Love it, Hate it?  
Review :)**

**-Nat**

**Oh yea, sorry about being gone :) I was on a missions trip for a week and then I was immediately whisked off to Montana to visit family. Gotta love Country Livin'**

**I'm still not sure if I'm going to kill off Wally… At first, I was gonna kill him, but now I'm not so sure… What do you guys think? Is the Wall-Man _really_ dead or am I just playing with your minds?**


	6. Chapter 6: That Can't Be Good

**Wallace Rudolph West and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.**

_"italics in quotation marks are over the video"_

* * *

**Mount Justice  
June 7****th****, 2011  
03:16:05 EDT**

Wallace Rudolph West is, in no way, shape or form a morning person. He had a problem with people waking him up, especially before day break. The only person who ever woke Wally up and got away with it, was his mother; and that was only because she always had heaps of pancakes ready for him to make up for it. When Batman's voice woke the boy from his slumber, Wally just knew that today was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

"Team; meet in the briefing room for your next mission. Five minutes."

The team had crashed at the cave that night after their "Fun Run". Rather than the 20 laps Canary had originally instructed them, the team ended up doubling it. Kid Flash glanced at the clock on his bed side table.

3:16 AM

He groaned loudly, rubbing his eyes with his palms. "Seriously?!"

_oOo_

Wally sluggishly made his way into the briefing room to discover that he was, yet again, last to arrive.

Artemis scoffed, "way to sleep in, _Flash Boy_." Wally just glared at Artemis with half-lidded eyes before turning to give his full attention, which in his sleep deprived state wasn't much, to Batman.

"I am sending you back to the Amazon," there was a collective groan from the team, "you will be at the southernmost point of the Amazon River in Brazil. That is where we believe the _real_ Kobra Venom factory is located, unlike the decoy you discovered last night. You will be leaving in fifteen minutes. That is enough time for you to get refreshed and eat. Stay alert and try not to have a repeat of your last mission."

The Team all made their way to the kitchen with Wally in the lead. Someone grabbed the speedster's arm. He turned to see Artemis. As the rest of the group past them, she sighed.

"Look, Wally..." she paused, contemplating whether are not she should really do this. She looked anywhere but at Wally. The floor, the walls, her hands. "I'm-I'm really sorry about last night... you know, blaming everything on you. I-" she stopped again. Apologizing was never really Artemis' thing, but the fact that she was trying made Wally smile.

"Don't sweat it, Harpy." He grinned, "you can make it up to me later," he added suggestively with a wink.

The archer smiled at him. With a laugh she punched him in the arm, "Come one, Baywatch. We wouldn't want you to starve."

* * *

**Mount Justice  
June 27th, 2011  
11:47 AM EDT**

Artemis wrapped her arms around herself tightly, trying to hold herself together. She felt tears prick at the corners of her steel gray eyes, but she refused to turn away from the holographic screen before her. She hated seeing him like this. So scared. So lonely. It was so _not_ Wally.

Kid Flash looked around him before turning back to the camera. _"I'm… I'm not really sure where I am right now… I-I think I'm still in the Amazon-I must still be in the Amazon… but I… I don't know where the r-river is-"_ a branch snapped behind him. He whirled around. He hissed through clenched teeth and clutched his side in pain. After a few moments, his tired gaze returned to the screen. _"I need to find a place to sleep. It's getting dark, and this place is creepy-"_ he coughed into his hand. Pulling his fist away from his mouth he knit his brows together. Crimson blood was now darkening his red gloves. _"That can't be good."_

* * *

**Okay, I know, I know, I know this one is really short, but somebody pointed out that _all_ my chapters are really short. So I decided to whip this up really quick for you guys. Consider this an extension to the last chapter.**

**Like it, Love it, Hate it?  
Review :)**

**-Nat**

**Check out my Batfamily One-Shot that is a little more on the humorous side: _What Defines a Hero._  
Or if you're looking for something a little darker, read: _And When I Have to Crawl_**


End file.
